Characters: Liuhe, Kimondo
Timeline: After the strike, before any attacks that mark the beginning of the war
Word Count: 1658

The hunting strike had ended but it was impossible not to feel the difference in the Mwezi’Johari. The air was tense and filled with suspense as everybody on each side of the impending conflict waited for the inevitable response. The rebels were quiet after the strike, but no longer invisible. They didn’t kick up a fuss again so soon, but they stopped hiding, daring the king to react. Kimondo was among those rebels most confident carrying on like normal, as willing to wander on her own as ever. Her visit to the borders had stayed on her mind, as had the disappointment that she hadn’t been able to reunite Nketa and Antara. They would get another chance, she’d make sure of that herself! But for now, she was focusing on something else.

How could she contribute to the rebellion without fighting? Kimondo was a small lioness, still growing and a quick and capable huntress.. but far outmatched if it came down to it against another lion. She wouldn’t go down without a fight but she wouldn’t go looking for one, either.

She was meandering slowly away from the waterhole, trying to work out the details of one half-formed idea that was creeping through her mind, when a familiar fiery mane caught her eye. She had nearly forgotten about her accidental friend.. or perhaps she had tried to forget now that he was almost certainly on the opposite side of this impending war. She couldn’t help but stop and stare sadly at him. She hadn’t meant to befriend him, but they were friends now.

Liuhe no longer had the same carefree attitude he’d always had. Some of his worries had been relieved when he found his parents, safe and sound, the night of the strike.. but they had only created more worries after being informed of the hunters’ actions. The world had turned upside down that night, though it was more subtle than he had expected. His father was angry and he seemed much darker for it, whatever plan he had in response to the rebellion, Liuhe didn’t want to know. Luckily, he seemed to have been spared much of the worry or work. This wasn’t something his father was interested in sharing with him and the heir was happy not to wonder why. It was against his better judgement that he wandered alone now, but he felt better doing something that didn’t feel like it was giving in to the paranoia that plagued his father.

He was purposefully wandering near the area he had met Kimondo, hoping to find his friend- hoping she still was his friend. She was a huntress, claimed that is just what her family did.. even if that was a bit of a simplification, he hoped she would have some answers for him. Unfortunately, even when she was within reach, he failed to notice her. It gave her time to stare at him, to notice that he didn’t quite look the same.. he didn’t carry himself with the same confidence, and that almost made everything feel worse.

“Liuhe,” she called finally, walking up to meet him. He turned and looked relieved when he saw her, making her smile sadly at him, “I was worried about you.”

She almost said she had been looking for him but this was more truthful.

“Kimondo!” he breathed, “What’s going on!”

He practically scrambled up to her and she gave him a sheepish look when he immediately demanded answers.. but she could hardly blame him. For being worried or expecting her to have an explanation for him. If she hadn’t had the fight with Umepatwa and the conversation with her mother, she might not have known what to do now. But she wasn’t going to lie to him, she was going to help him try to understand the rebels and hoped he would help her understand the loyalists.

“It’s a long story, do you want to go for a walk?” she asked with a sigh.

Liuhe hesitated but nodded, “OK.”

Kimondo changed her path from going in wide circles around the waterhole and started heading straight outward and away. She walked steadily beside him and waited a minute before she spoke again, his silence a clear indication that he was waiting for her.

“This whole thing goes back before either of us were born,” she started quietly, “It’s been a long time coming, my parents have been telling us that since we were very small. They’ve never been happy about what happened to Queen Khathelela and King Thoth, or Princess Selene and Lord Fuu.”

Liuhe nodded, expecting everything she said except that she had known this was coming from a very young age. He immediately wondered what her motivation was for becoming his friend, if they even really were friends.. but he couldn’t put together the words to question her.

“Umepatwa is what finally got us going, though,” she went on, “You must have heard about the part he played. He finally ran out of patience, he’s been waiting a long time for this too.” Kimondo fell silent again, thinking of Nketa and Antara but knowing she couldn’t explain that that was part of his motivation. His family was split up because of this, in more ways than Liuhe could know.

“Did I do that?” Liuhe asked suddenly, looking at Kimondo, “Is it because I interrupted you while you both were talking to Unyezi?”

“No,” she said firmly, willing herself to believe it, but looking at her feet when she spoke, “You haven’t done anything wrong."

Liuhe frowned, noting that she refused to look at him.

“Are we really friends?”

Kimondo’s head snapped back up, caught off guard by his straightforward question. She stopped walking and met his gaze, staring for a moment before finally nodding.

“Of course we are,” she said.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked, standing still beside her, “You’ve never been completely honest with me, you wouldn’t tell me about your family then and now you say you’ve been raised waiting for the chance to kill my father.. and you won’t even look at me now.”

“I- I’m sure!” she said, still frowning, “I’m sorry, I know I haven’t been completely honest.”

Silence fell between them as they stared each other down, each trying to decide how much they could trust the other at this point. It was Kimondo who cracked first.

“Umepatwa and I had an argument about you after that night,” she said, “He didn’t think it was smart to be your friend, he doesn’t trust you anymore than he trusts the King. I knew that when we first met, and it made me wary, but I didn’t let it stop us from becoming friends.”

“Do you still not trust me?” Liuhe asked, trying to look skeptical but appearing more disappointed.

“I don’t know,” she answered with a sigh.

“So, Umepatwa kick-started the rebellion because you’re my friend but you’re not even sure if you trust me?”

Kimondo glanced back down to her feet. When he put it that way, it seemed especially silly of her. She had argued on his behalf, insisted that he was not guilty just because his father was the king. Did she really not trust him, or was she just reluctant to admit that she did?

“I guess.. I do trust you, you’re my friend and I don’t blame you for your father’s crimes,” she said, looking back up, “But it’s hard to admit because our families put us on different sides. It’s only going to get worse, are you going to remain loyal to your father?”

Now it was Liuhe’s turn to be silent.

“Why can’t you move past what he did to become king?” he asked after a long pause, “Hasn’t he done good since then?”

“Yes,” she answered, “He has done some good, but he controls the pride with fear, hiding behind slaves he’s elevated for his own personal guard. Our strike was a peaceful one, watch for how he responds to it. And it’s not just how he treats the pride he is supposed to protect, many fear what he’s done has turned the Great Lion away from us. The king strikes under a new moon but he can’t hide the truth from the Great Lion, no matter how he tries.”

The strike was peaceful, watch how he responds .. the words stuck with the prince. He already knew what the response would be, he was waiting for the inevitable violent response and, apparently, so were they.

“What do you think, Liuhe?” she asked, a desperate curiosity in her eyes, “Are the rebels wrong?”

Liuhe blinked, startled by her question and the look in her eyes. There was another long pause before he answered.

“Yes,” he said, knowing whether or not he wanted it, he was stuck on the loyalists’ side, “Of course the king is going to react with violence, but is it his fault or yours when you provoke him? You want him to react the ‘wrong’ way, and you’re setting yourselves up for it.”

Kimondo fought the urge to look at her feet again as Liuhe confirmed that they would be on opposite sides of whatever conflict came from the strike. Just like she couldn’t turn her back on her family and give in to another way of thinking, he couldn’t either. She was less certain than he sounded but she could never side with the murderous usurper and that ultimately made her choice for her.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“Me too.”

With a sigh, Liuhe decided it was time to walk away. He had some answers and that would do for now. It was obvious it wouldn’t do either of them any good to keep talking. She said she trusted him but they weren’t going to see eye to eye on this, maybe they couldn’t be friends. So he simply walked away, leaving a sad looking Kimondo behind.

Fin!